ST. CLOUD — The news came and there was an immediate dietary response for Emma Polusny.

"I got an email on a Thursday night and me and my roommates were making brownies," she said. "I put down the brownie right then and there and said, 'Nope, I'm going to camp and I've got to get ready to go. No more brownies for me.'"

It is not every day that a women's hockey player gets invited to a USA senior team evaluation camp. Polusny, a sophomore goalie for St. Cloud State, was one of 37 players to take part in the camp, which was held Sept. 13-17 in Biddeford, Maine.

Polusny and the Huskies open their season with an exhibition game against Hockey Training Institute at 6:07 p.m. Saturday at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. The Hockey Training Institute team is an 18-and-under team based in Ontario.

Big names

The competition level is likely to be a lot different for Polusny in the exhibition compared to what she faced in the evaluation camp. Team USA is the reigning Olympic gold medalists and Polusny saw many of the most familiar names in the nation in competition.

"It's definitely a little bit intimidating when you're going into a locker room with people with gold medals at the world championships and at the Olympics," said Polusny, a 19-year-old from Mound. "Our first ice time was basically a game. My first shot on goal was a breakaway by Gigi Marvin. Everyone who grew up in Minnesota knows that name.

"It's crazy to think (about), but you've got to jump right into it, compete hard and do the best you can."

St. Cloud State's Emma Polusny makes a save last season at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Polusny, a sophomore from Mound, recently returned from camp with the USA senior national team.(Photo: Courtesy of St. Cloud State University)

For those who do not know who Marvin is, she's a 31-year-old forward from Warroad who has played in three Olympic Games, seven IIHF World Championships, played four seasons at the University of Minnesota and has played five seasons professionally.

Oh, and Polusny made a low glove save on the breakaway against Marvin. She was not as fortunate later in the game when facing 29-year-old forward Hilary Knight, a three-time Olympian who has played in nine world championships.

"Hilary Knight put one right between my legs (for a goal) and you say, 'Yep, you're an Olympian,'" Polusny said.

The six days with Team USA was the first time that Polusny, who was one of five goalies to participate in the camp, had spent time with the national senior team. She had a busy offseason in which her stock rose on the national level.

More recognition

From May 11-13, she was one of 18 to participate in the invitation only 2018 U.S. Women's National Team Goaltending Camp at Schwan's Super Rink in Blaine. Then she participated in the USA Under-22 Series in August in Calgary, Alberta.

She was excited by all of the invitations, though admits to being a bit surprised by the invitation to the senior camp.

"I had never been involved in the senior program with USA Hockey before," she said. "At the same time, I was really happy with how I did in that camp in August. I didn't go on to make the roster that played against Canada in Calgary, but overall, I was happy with how everything went.

"All you can ask is to keep competing, keep playing as well as you can and keep getting invited to things."

The significance of the invitation to the senior camp is appreciated by St. Cloud State coach Eric Rud. Polusny had a school-record 2.20 goals-against average, a .934 save percentage (second in school history), a school-record four shutouts and was 6-10-3 in 20 games as a freshman.

"Sometimes in athletics, the kids get earmarked when they're 16 and they travel with that group no matter what," Rud said of the national teams. "It's nice to see USA Hockey branch out and include some kids who haven't been in their national program before.

"That's a really big deal (for Polusny) because that's the big one. That's the camp where all the Olympians are there and it certainly was a great honor for her and something for her to build off of."

St. Cloud State's Emma Polusny participated in the USA Under-22 festival and USA senior women's hockey team camp during the offseason. She was 6-10-3 with a 2.20 goals-against average, a .934 save percentage and four shutouts in 20 games last season.(Photo: Courtesy of St. Cloud State University)

Dynamic duo

Polusny is part of a strong goaltending duo for the Huskies. Junior Janine Alder (2-10-2, 2.42 GAA, .935 save percentage, 14 games) was on the Switzerland Olympic team last winter.

All players want to be on the ice for every game. How does Polusny handle splitting time with Alder?

"I would say that Janine is the best goalie partner I've ever had," Polusny said. "Before I got to St. Cloud, I'd never really had anybody to lean on for support on and off the ice. I couldn't ask for anything more from Janine in a goalie partner.

"She's awesome when it comes to giving advice or giving a hug, if that's what you need," said Polusny, who was named to the WCHA All-Rookie and All-WCHA Third Team last season. "Goaltending is a very difficult position and nobody can quite understand it unless you've been in that situation before like she has."

So what sets Polusny, who is listed at 5-foot-9 and 164 pounds, apart from other goalies?

"Two things stick out right away: She loves it," Rud said. "She loves being in there and the other thing is how hard she competes all the time on every puck. There's never a time when she just kind of lets one go in the back door. She tries to get to everything, every single time.

"The team feeds off that competitiveness and that's a big positive."

Polusny said that her competitive nature can sometimes allow her to stray from some good habits, something she tried to address with her offseason.

"I need to continually work on my fundamentals because there are times when I forget about those when I'm in the heat of the moment of a game and I'm not thinking too much," said Polusny, who stayed in St. Cloud for workouts this summer. "I'm looking to be better with rebound control and being able to control the puck more. I want to be able to work with my defense more and make easy plays to get (the puck) out of the zone with a good breakout pass."

Throw in her time at the camps and it was a memorable offseason for Polusny.

"It gives you a little more confidence," she said. "It definitely was a draining (senior) camp in terms of the level of play there.

"It's pretty difficult with the six-day camp, but it puts you in a good spot because you're looking at the girls that were playing in that camp and I was competing well with them. There's no reason I can't come in and do awesome in the WCHA."

St. Cloud State opens the regular season on Sept. 28 with the first of a two-game series at the University of Connecticut. The Huskies' play RIT on Oct. 5 in the first game of their first regular season series of the season at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.